


Similarities

by ozuttly



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: Illness, Kojuro is a bad man, Referenced violence, unhealthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 20:30:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1721597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/pseuds/ozuttly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The were different, and yet the same. And that was where his plan had failed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Similarities

They were the same. 

It was the reason why Takenaka Hanbei had grown interested in Katakura Kojuro in the first place. A sharp, loyal strategist whose only interest was the success of his lord. His talents were wasted on the Date. 

Two sides of the same coin. There was no better man to act as his replacement. 

It had been a flawed plan from the beginning, Hanbei realized as their blades crossed and he saw the raw fury, the strength and danger lurking beneath the skin of the man who had been held quietly captive for weeks. Katakura Kojuro was not his equal, and the idea that he would ever allow himself to be detained and manipulated was foolish. 

It was a pity that it had taken so long to realize his own folly, Hanbei mused as he felt himself fall. Born of desperation, no doubt, and the thought itself was so utterly stupid that he almost felt the urge to laugh before his body hit the waves below. 

***

Waking up again afterwards was the last thing that Hanbei expected. 

The pain was nothing new, even when the constricting pressure in his chest was nearly drowned out by the aching heaviness of his limbs. His chest rattled when he breathed, as well; a different, unfamiliar kind of rattle, but something he’d seen in others often enough to recognize. Broken ribs, then. He twitched his fingers experimentally, taking stock of the rest of his injuries. 

His ankle was either broken or badly strained; he couldn’t move it either way. Both wrists had been snapped with expert precision that could never have come from an accidental fall; he glanced down at the carefully wrapped bandages and a wretched smile coming to his lips. He would have laughed if he didn’t think the action would make him vomit.

"Is this meant to be a joke, Katakura-kun?" He asked, raising his eyes for the first time to the man kneeling in the corner of the room. Kojuro met his gaze levelly, his face an expressionless mask. Hanbei’s lips quirked up ever so slightly. 

The deceiver being deceived, was it? 

There was a silence between the two of them before Kojuro shifted, moving closer until the two of them were face to face. 

"Toyotomi Hideyoshi is dead," he said, and for once Hanbei was happy for the uncontrollable coughing fit that came without warning; it hid the way his breath caught in his throat, and soon he was hunched over, blood spilling between his fingers. Kojuro didn’t move, however once the shaking in Hanbei’s shoulders died down, he held out a handkercheif so that the other strategist could at least wipe his hands. 

It took a moment before Hanbei removed his hands from his face; he didn’t trust his expression not to betray him, and it took a moment to school his face into careful nonchalance. 

"Is that so?" He asked, and it was tantamount to his amazing skills as an actor that his voice stayed steady. "I suppose that it was the one eyed dragon, then? I’m surprised."

The silence returned like a heavy veil, stifling before Hanbei finally decided to break it once more. 

"And? Is there any reason for this, Katakura-kun? I would imagine that the Date clan would be glad to be rid of the Toyotomi completely." He glanced down at his wrists once more, then down to his ankle. He was starting to wonder if any of his injuries had been from the fall itself. 

"You were the one who said that we were the same, Takenaka," Kojuro responded, and Hanbei was almost surprised that he had. The dragon’s right eye shifted once more, his eyes roving down to those same broken wrists. "If so, it was foolish for you to think that I would ever serve anybody but Masamune-sama." 

"Perhaps," Hanbei began, having an inkling of where the conversation was going, but cautious regardless. "Although I had already determined that we are not the same." 

"In some aspects, no," Kojuro said, his voice low as his index finger pressed lightly against the bandages wrapped tightly around Hanbei’s chest. "However in others, I am loathe to admit that we may be more similar than I had expected."

The weight of his words was heavy, and Hanbei drew in a long, scratchy breath, and this time he couldn’t help the wet, painful laugh that rattled in his chest. 

Stupid. 

It was so stupid that he was shocked he’d never thought of it before. Of course his plan had failed. 

After all, he was looking for a man the same as him as a replacement.

To have ever expected Katakura Kojuro to have betrayed Date Masamune would be the same as expecting himself to betray Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 

That he’d ever thought himself capable of bringing about such a change in the other man was beyond arrogant; for the first time in his life, Hanbei thought himself an idiot. 

"And it’s that similarity," Kojuro continued, pulling his hand back as Hanbei’s laughs turned once more to coughs, and this time he placed his fingers softly between his shoulders, "which let me devise the best punishment for you." 

Hanbei’s frame shook as blood splattered against his chest, and yet the laughter wouldn’t stop. 

It took several minutes for the attack to die down, and he raised his eyes defiantly, his lips smeared with blood and bile. 

"You are a cruel man, Katakura-kun," he said, his lips still curved up in a smile that was far closer to a sneer.

Kojuro wiped the mess away from his chin with his thumb, a contemptful smile gracing his own features. 

"I’m not sure what I could have ever done to convince you that I was kind, Takenaka."


End file.
